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HDT's Top 50 Green Fleets

Department of SanitationDeKalb County, Ga.The county was honored last year for a $15 million project that included the construction of the DeKalb County Renewable Energy Facility, which converts landfill gas to produce 2.3 million diesel gallon equivalents of CNG annually. The county’s goal is to replace or adapt its entire fleet of 306 vehicles to natural gas fuel, so the vehicles are powered by the trash they haul.

Dillon TransportBurr Ridge, Ill.

With 425 heavy-duty trucks and 20 light-duty trucks and vans, Dillon is unusual in that it runs both LNG and CNG, depending on the situation at each specific terminal. It started buying natural gas trucks four or five years ago. It’s currently running 50 CNG and 30 LNG heavy-duty trucks, but has another 120 on order.

Dillon Transport uses natural gas as a way to attract new customers.

The total fleet is about 500 trucks, so 25% of the fleet will be natural gas by the second quarter of 2014. The fleet is an advocate for natural gas, with executives frequently speaking about it at national events, and even took a natural gas truck to Capitol Hill to advocate tax incentives.

Duncan and Son LinesBuckeye, Ariz.

Duncan and Son Lines earned a 2012 SmartWay Excellence Award, recognized as #1 in the Large Dray Carrier Category. In the last year it has invested heavily in equipment designed for better fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions. The fleet bought 30 new 2013 Freightliners equipped with Cummins engines with the latest SCR emissions technology. It is also looking at doing LNG conversions on some older trucks. A recent purchase of 25 new 53-foot dry van trailers was equipped with low-rolling-resistant tires and skirting to reduce wind resistance.

FedEx ExpressMemphis, Tenn.

In 2008, FedEx set a goal to make its global fleet 20% more fuel-efficient than its 2005 performance by 2020. This year it reached that goal and upped it to 30%. By the end of 2013, FedEx Express will have 360 hybrid-electric vehicles and 200 electric vehicles in its fleet.

In addition to electric and hybrid-electric equipment, FedEx is saving fuel and GHG emissions by replacing older trucks with smaller, more fuel-efficient vans like this Sprinter.

It’s also “right-sizing” engines and vehicles; for instance, it’s replaced older trucks with more than 10,000 smaller vans such as the Mercedes/Freightliner Sprinter, each about 70% to 100% more fuel-efficient than the trucks they replace. Composite-body Reach vehicles offer a 35% reduction in fuel consumption over conventional walk-in vans. Some 35% of the FedEx Express diesel vehicle pickup and delivery fleet has been converted to more efficient and cleaner-burning EPA-2010 models.